Feeding arrangement for gas producers



April 5, 1938 J. DANIELS 2,113,015

FEEDING ARRANGEMENT FOR GAS PRODUCERS Filed Jan; 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheetl J. DANIELS April 5, 1938.

FEEDING ARRANGEMENT FOR GAS PRODUCERS Filed Jan. 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Jnvenrnr Patented Apr. 5, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FEEDINGARRANGElWENT' FOR GAS PRODUCERS Joseph Daniels, Essen,

mesne assignments,

Germany, to

assignor, by Koppers Company,

Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware 3 Claims.

The invention relates to an apparatus for feeding the fuel into gasproducers and especially into coal-gas producers from a fuel bunkersituated outside the gas producer by means of a feeding arrangementwhich distributes the fuel over the whole section of the gas producer.

The principal object of my present invention is to provide suchimprovements in the feeding arrangement of gas producers so that thefuel is distributed uniformly and automatically over the whole fuel bedin exact adjustable quantities, quite independent of the quality, i. e.the grading, composition, specific gravity and moisture of the fuel andwithout the segregation of the fuel.

Another object of my invention is to provide improvements in which thefeeding arrangements are gas-tight and so designed, that anycondensation of vapours produced by the gasification of the fuel doesnot cause any trouble in the feeding arrangements.

The principal feature of the invention is characterized by providingbetween the charging hole in the gas producer roof and the box wheelarranged in the usual manner at the bunker outlet, a gas-tighthorizontal feeding pipe, through which the fuel will be led by means. ofan oscillating piston having an adjustable stroke in such a way that thefeeding pipe is permanently filled with fuel during the operation.

Furthermore, there is provided according to the present inventionbesides the fuel path formed by the automatic feeder a second fuel path,between the bunker outlet and the charging hole of the gas producerroof. By means of this second fuel path it is possible to feedthe fuelin adjustable quantities very quickly into the gas producer in order tocover if necessary any fire on the fuel surface and to avoid any damagesresulting therefrom.

Still further objects of my invention may be taken from the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment of my invention shown on theaccompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a vertical section throughthe feeding arrangement for a gas producer.

Fig, 2 gives a top view of the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1.

50 The gas producer shaft 2 in which is placed the fuel bed I, is sealedat the top by a rotating cover 3 in which is arranged the fuel charginghole 4. The gas producer cover is supported on rollers 5 in thestationary part of the gas producer roof. A cup sealing 6 ensures thegas wheel gears into the tooth rim 9 of the gas producer cover}.

The fuel to be gasified is delivered from the stationary bunker I llinto a feeding hopper II, which is arranged centrally upon the rotatinggas producer cover 3. A box wheel I2 is connected in a gas-tight way tothe feeding hopper II by means of which the fuel is delivered in exactlymeasured quantities from the hopper H to the feeding pipe IS. Thevertical feeding pipe 13 is connected to a horizontal feeding pipe I4 inwhich is provided a reciprocable piston l5 which suitably takes up thewhole section of the pipe M. The feeding pipe l4 finally leads into thecharging hole 4 of the gas producer roof: Underneath the charging hole 4there is also provided a chute I6 which is fixed to a shaft l1 reachingthrough the gas producer roof.

The feeding pipe I4 is so designed, that its section, as shown in Fig.1, is permanently filled with the fuel which is pushed gradually throughthe feeding pipe M by means of the piston l5, whereby at every forwardstroke of the piston a part of the fuel which has been fed by the boxwheel is caught by the piston and then delivered into the feeding pipel4. After the quantity of fuel has been fed into the feeding pipe,resulting from the forward stroke of the piston, a correspondingquantity of fuel falls at the end of the feeding pipe through thecharging pipe 4 onto the distributing chute IS.

The coal plug which is permanently kept in the feeding pipe [4 seals thefuel feeding arrangement against the atmosphere. Any condensations whichfor instance are formed by the tarry substances and which escape fromthe coal during the gasification process cannot cause any trouble in thecoal plug of the feeding pipe l4.

On the other hand, it is impossible for the gases and vapours which havebeen formed in the gas producer to escape into the open air, as the coalin the feeding pipe M as well as the box wheel 12 offers a sufficientlyhigh passage resistance to the gas. The movement of the delivery istonI5 is performed by a double lever l8, which fits with one arm into thecutting IQ of the delivery piston l5. The lever I8 is supported on ashaft 20 which is put into an oscillating movement by means of anelectric motor 2| by making use of the crank shaft 22 and the rod 23.

- The lever 24 is fixed at the other end of the driving shaft 20. Ahorizontal rod 25 is connected to the lever .24. A pawl 26 is fitted tothe rod 25, which interlocks into the usual tooth rim 2'! of the boxwheel in such a way, that at any movement of the rod 25 upon a forwardstroke of the piston 15 the box wheel is moved on to a certain extentand on retractive movement of the piston !5, rod 25 and its connectionsmerely idle.

As shown in Fig. 2, a second pawl 28 is arranged at the other end of therod 25, by means of which the distributing chute I6 is set intooperation during the forward stroke of piston 15 and merely idles duringthe retractive stroke of piston 15.

A hand lever 29 is firmly fixed on the upper end of the chute shaft H,by means of which the chute I6 can be rotated. A lever 3|] is furtherloosely supported on the shaft ll, which can be firmly coupled with thehand lever 29, by means of the removable pin 3!. The lever 30 carries aroller 32, which is situated within the range of a cam plate 33. Thisplate is turned by the pawl wheel 34, by making use of the worm 35, andthe worm wheel 36.

The cam plate 33 is so designed, that the chute I6 can be moved by therotation which has been transferred from the cam plate 33 onto the lever38, so that the end of the chute [6 during the operation of the gasproducer, i. e. at that time when the gas producer cover is rotated andthe chute moved has to go the way as indicated in Fig. 2 by dotted lines35. Furthermore, the curve plate has been thus constructed, that theoscillation of the chute can be retarded towards the fuel bed, so thatequal quantities of fuel are distributed over every surface unit of thefuel bed.

Sometimes it happens during the operation of the gas producer that thefuel bed is burning through at several points. These points have then tobe covered with fuel as quickly as possible, in order to maintain auniform composition of the gas. For this reason, I have arrangedaccording to my invention a special fuel path in the feedingarrangement. This fuel path consists of an auxiliary outlet 31, which isprovided for at the hopper ll. Said outlet is regulated by a valve 39,which must be operated from outside by the hand lever 38. The auxiliaryoutlet 37 leads to space 40 which is fitted at the top of the charginghole 4 with an outlet which can be closed by means of the plug 4!. Theplug 4| can be drawn back upwards with a holding rod which, as shown,goes through the wall of the space 40 at the top.

If a fire spot on the fuel surface has to be covered, the pin 3| of thechute hand lever 29 must be removed, so that the chute l6 can be movedby the hand lever 29, over that point of the fuel bed which has to befilled with fuel. If necessary, the drive for rotating the gas producercover 3 can be switched off. As soon as the end of the chute l6 hasreached the desired position, the valve 39 and the seal plug 4| areopened, thereupon the fuel falls in the desired quantities from thecharging hopper H through the space 40 upon the chute l6, quiteindependently of the fuel delivery by means of the piston l5 in thefeeding pipe 14. When the fire spot on the fuel surface has beencovered, with fuel, the auxiliary path 40 is again closed, the handlever 29 of the chute is recoupled with the curve plate lever 30 and therotating movement of the gas producer cover is again commenced.

As shown on the drawings, an electric motor has been arranged on therotating gas producer cover for the drive of the various feedingdevices. The current is supplied by a suitable sliding contact by makinguse of a pipe 42, which is fitted to the stationary bunker H! in thecenter of the gas producer cover and fixed to a hopper crossbracearranged in the hopper H. Said hopper cross-brace carries at the sametime the current feeding cables. The sliding contacts are housed in thecasing 43, so that an easy access from outside is rendered possible.

I have described my present invention in connection with the preferredembodiment thereof, but my invention is not limited in all its aspectsto the mode of carrying out as described and shown. The invention may bevariously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Feeding apparatus for gas producers comprising: a rotatable coverhaving a lower charging inlet with a fuel distributor having anoscillatable shaft for distributing fuel from the lower inlet over thegas producer fuel bed area, an upper hopper for supplying fuel to theinlet, a gas-tight fuel-feed pipe leading at one end to the inlet andcommunicating at its opposite end with an inlet-conduit therefor,gas-tight fuel measuring means for feeding fuel to the inlet conduit, amanually operable lever and a cam lever disengageably connectable to thehand lever for operating the oscillatable shaft, a piston reciprocablein the fuel-feed pipe, means for actuating the piston, means foractuating the fuel measuring means, cam means for oscillating the camlever, driving means for reciprocating the piston actuation means,connections from the driving means adapted for actuating the means foractuating the fuel measuring means and the cam means on the forwardstroke of the piston and to idle on its retractive stroke, and auxiliaryfuel feed outlet and gas sealable conduit means leading from the upperhopper to the charging inlet but by-passing the measuring means and thefuel-feed pipe.

2. Feeding apparatus for gas producers comprising: a rotatable coverhaving a lower charging inlet with a fuel distributor having anoscillatable shaft for distributing fuel from the lower inlet over thegas producer fuel bed area, an upper hopper for supplying fuel to theinlet, a gas-tight fuel-feed pipe leading at one end to the inlet andcommunicating at its opposite end with an inlet-conduit therefor,gas-tight fuel measuring means for feeding fuel to the inlet conduit, amanually operable lever and a cam lever for operating the oscillatableshaft, a piston reciprocable in the fuel-feed pipe, means for actuatingthe piston, means for actuating the fuel measuring means, cam means foroscillating the cam lever, driving means for reciprocating the pistonactuation means, connections from the driving means adapted foractuating the means for actuating the fuel measuring means and the cammeans on the forward stroke of the piston and to idle on its retractivestroke and auxiliary fuel feed outlet and gas sealable conduit meansleading from the upper hopper to the charging inlet but by-passing themeasuring means and the fuelfeed pipe.

3. Feeding apparatus for gas producers comprising: a rotatable coverhaving a lower charging inlet for distributing fuel over the area of thegas producer fuel bed, an upper hopper for supplying fuel to the inlet,a gas-tight fuel feeding pipe in fixed relation relative to andcommunicating at one end with said inlet and communicating at itsopposite end with an inlet conduit therefor, gastight fuel measuringmeans for feeding measured quantities of fuel to the inlet conduit, apiston reciprocable in said fuel feeding pipe for cutting off a quantityof fuel from the fuel in the inlet conduit, and adapted to cut off gasflow through the fuel feed pipe to the inlet conduit and to advance thefuel only part of the length of the fuel feed pipe, during advancingfuel by the piston from the inlet conduit through the fuel feed pipe tothe charging inlet, means for actuating the fuel measuring means,driving-means for reciprocating the piston actuating means, andconnections from the driving-means adapted for actuating the means foractuating the fuel measuring means on the forward stroke of the pistonand. adapted to idle on the retractive stroke of the piston.

JOSEPH DANIELS.

